Wearable electronic devices, or as used herein, wearable technology is a new class of electronic systems that can provide data acquisition through a variety of unobtrusive sensors that may be worn by a user. The sensors gather information, for example, about the environment, the user's activity, or the user's health status. However, there are significant challenges related to the coordination, computation, communication, privacy, security, and presentation of the collected data. Additionally, there are challenges related to power management given the current state of battery technology. Furthermore, analysis of the data is needed to make the data gathered by the sensors useful and relevant to end-users. In some cases, additional sources of information may be used to supplement the data gathered by the sensors. The many challenges that wearable technology presents require new designs in hardware and software.
Wearable technology may include any type of mobile electronic device that can be worn on the body, attached to or embedded in clothes and accessories of an individual, and currently existing in the consumer marketplace. Processors and sensors associated with the wearable technology can display, process or gather information. Such wearable technology has been used in a variety of areas, including monitoring health of the user as well as collecting other types of data and statistics. These types of devices may be readily available to the public and may be easily purchased by consumers. Examples of some wearable technology in the health arena include FITBIT, NIKE+ FUELBAND, and the APPLE WATCH devices.
Medical bracelets are devices that generally include information about an individual's medical conditions and emergency contact information. These bracelets are helpful in providing information to others (e.g., instructions for care, emergency contacts) in situations where the individual is unable to communicate for help or incapacitated.